


You And I

by edgarallenhoe



Series: The Life and Times of Iron Maiden [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Coma, Engagement, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Pietro Gets Hurt, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-04-06 06:14:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4211190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgarallenhoe/pseuds/edgarallenhoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything's going pretty great in Quinn Rosen's life until her boyfriend, Pietro Maximoff, is seriously injured on a mission. What will this mean for their relationship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	You And I

Somewhere in the tower, Quinn Rosen heard the telltale ding of the elevator, which indicated that either her teammates had returned from the dangerous mission they had been on or the pizza she had ordered was finally here. She unwillingly pushed herself out of her bed, trudging out into the living room where the elevator was located. When she got out there, blearily rubbing her eyes, she found out that it was the latter: her pizza was hot and ready, just waiting for her to eat it. She paid the delivery man, who looked completely awestruck at being in the Stark Tower and didn’t say a word to her as she plucked her pizza from his hand and started munching on it. She heard him get back into the elevator and ride it back down.

“This SUCKS!” Quinn groaned to no one in particular as she flopped down on the couch, pizza still in hand. She wasn’t talking about the pizza, but the fact that all of her friends were MIA. They weren’t literally missing; she knew their mission was dangerous and they didn’t know when they’d be back. That didn’t excuse the fact, though, that they hadn’t even bothered to contact her. Pietro, her loving boyfriend, hadn’t even texted her. During the first four days she had given them the benefit of the doubt. She knew that Pietro, Wanda, Natasha, and Clint could all handle themselves, and they would only contact her if something went really wrong and she had to come in, guns blazing. The fifth day onward (it had been a week and a half), she had been frustrated with the lack of contact and was succumbing to boredom.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if some of her other teammates were around, but they all had busy, important lives to attend to. Steve was searching for the Winter Soldier with Sam (he had finally revealed to them who he had been searching for, not that it hadn’t been obvious). Rhodey was a public figure and had a real job to return to. Bruce was working diligently in the lab and was not to be disturbed during his work hours (which was basically 24/7). Tony was a wealthy businessman, and his company couldn’t just run itself. Thor was either with Jane Foster, his human scientist girlfriend, or on Asgard. Vision was doing lord-knows-what; he could’ve been on some far-off planet or down the street exploring the ins-and-outs of human culture. Some of them would pop in and out of the tower, but for the most part Quinn was alone. 

At first, having the residential area of the tower to herself was like a dream come true. It had been about two years since she had joined the Avengers and she had had very little time to herself since then. Usually, one of the twins or Natasha was glued to her side as she trained, ate, and slept (or didn’t sleep if it was Pietro next to her). She had missed just having quiet time, and reveled in it for the first day and a half. Then, she got really tired of it.

She missed Wanda and Pietro fighting in their native tongue while she flipped through the thousands of channels on the TV. She missed Natasha walking in with a protein shake in hand, alerting her that it was time to train for the day. She missed Clint appearing seemingly out of nowhere and then acting like he hadn’t just scared the daylights out of her. She missed hearing the near-constant arguing of Tony and Steve. She really missed Thor’s aura of happiness and godliness, which made the room instantly more positive whenever he walked in. Most of all, she missed just relaxing with Pietro, who rarely slowed down. She loved it when her silver-haired lover would just plop down on the couch or in bed next to her and just hold her for a few hours while they watched shitty rom-coms or mindless TV shows.

She was finishing her third slice of pizza when she heard the elevator ding again. She immediately perked up, shooting from her spot on the couch and turning to face the elevator doors. She quickly tried to fix her appearance; she was wearing one of Pietro’s t-shirts, which was huge on her, and a pair of baggy sweatpants. She hadn’t showered today and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She straightened out her shirt and wiped a bit of pizza grease off her face while trying to comb her ponytail into something looking relatively normal. The doors opened and she beamed excitedly. Her grin fell, however, when she only counted three people coming out of the doors.

“Where’s Pietro?” Her heart felt like it had been ripped from her body as she looked at Wanda, Natasha, and Clint’s downcast faces. Wanda’s was streaked with tears and her eyes were puffy and red. Quinn’s hands started shaking.

“Don’t you dare tell me he’s dead. Don’t you dare.” Her voice was low and it started to crack in the middle of her sentence. The others were making their way over to her.

“He’s not dead. He might as well be, though,” Wanda spoke, her voice sounding hoarse.

“I know you’re hurt right now, but that’s a little dramatic. He’s hurt bad, in a coma, but he’s not dead.” Quinn heart started beating normally again as Natasha said this.

“What happened?” Quinn asked. Natasha and Clint took a seat on the couch while Wanda stood still near the hallway, arms crossed.

“We were in the Ukraine, trying to extract some intel, but we were misled as to what the source was. Turned out there were some HYDRA stragglers hiding out there trying to intercept us. We were way outgunned and had to hole up for a few days. No comms in or out. Finally, we were forced out of hiding and had to retreat. Pietro took some fire from someone aiming at Wanda. We called Tony and he has Dr. Cho working on him, but he’ll be out for a while. He’ll be fine, Quinn,” Natasha took the girl’s shaking hands into her own and looked up into her tear-filled eyes.

“I am not worth this. I am so sorry, Quinn,” Wanda sobbed. This seemed to snap Quinn out of her own sadness. She pulled her hands from Natasha’s and walked slowly over to her best friend.

“Wanda… You’re worth everything. I love you, too, you know.” Quinn was standing in front of the Sokovian girl and holding in her own tears. The brunette suddenly threw her arms around Quinn’s neck and they were one big crying mess standing in the middle of the living room.

“He’ll be fine. Natasha said so. I’m just glad you’re both still alive,” Quinn said shakily as she pulled away from Wanda.

“You are right. I just need to collect my thoughts. Excuse me,” Wanda murmured as she slouched out of the room. Quinn turned back to Natasha and Clint, who were pulling off their boots and relaxing after their tough mission.

“Can I… see him?” Clint eyed her and nodded.

“Come with me,” he said as he yanked his shoes back onto his feet. They left Natasha on the couch. Quinn followed him into the elevator, which they rode up five floors. They stepped out and a wave of nostalgia hit Quinn. She had been here twice but had never been a visitor. This wing of the tower looked a bit like Bruce’s lab, but there was a room off to the right. She knew this was the room she had been a patient in. She didn’t see Dr. Cho anywhere, but Beth, the nurse who had helped her through her trauma, was tapping away at a computer next to a lab table that held a body. Pietro’s body.

He was pale, paler than normal. His normally rapid breathing was slow and steady; she could see his chest steadily rise and fall. His normally well-groomed silver locks were clinging to his forehead in an unkempt manner. There were bandages covering his right shoulder and his chest. She hated seeing him like this, defenseless and broken with tubes sticking out of him.

She made her way over to the table, not daring to breathe. When she was standing next to him, she hesitantly reached out her hand. She gingerly brushed the strands of hair out of his closed eyes and looked at his still, sleeping face. A sob threatened to escape as she rested her hand on his cheek. One tear slipped out of her eye and landed on his nose. She brushed it off and the rest started to flow freely.

“When will he wake up?” she asked Beth, not lifting her eyes from her lover’s face. She hadn’t noticed that the nurse had stopped typing as soon as she noticed her and was now intently watching the scene unfolding before her. She also hadn’t noticed Clint silently leave the room to give her some privacy.

“A few days at best. At worst…” Beth trailed off, not wanting to finish her statement. A sob broke through Quinn’s barrier and her whole body seemed to be violently shaking as she tried to control them. She felt the nurse’s hand at her shoulder; she hadn’t even noticed her getting up, she just couldn’t stop staring at the broken man lying in front of her.

“Take your time,” Beth spoke softly, patting her once on the shoulder and then walking out of the room. Quinn couldn’t take it anymore. She threw her arms around Pietro’s seemingly-lifeless body and bawled. She couldn’t remember the last time she had cried like this, but she couldn’t stand seeing the man she loved in a state like this. This was absolute torture. Pietro had to wake up, he just had to.

Over the next few days, Quinn rarely left his side. In the mornings, she went back downstairs to shower and eat something quickly, but then made her way right back up to his bedside. At night, she went back down again for dinner but came back up to sleep. He was in a more critical condition than she had been, apparently, so he was on the lab table every time she walked through the elevator doors. She had pulled up a relatively-comfortable chair and grabbed a few books and magazines so she would have something to do while she waited for him to awaken. She saw Dr. Cho once briefly, but she was gone as quickly as she had appeared. When Beth and Wanda (who regularly came to visit) weren’t in the room, she would talk to Pietro, read to him, and even sing sometimes.

On the fifth night, she dozed off clutching his hand. She usually curled up in the chair, but tonight she had fallen asleep sitting up. There was drool on her chin as her head lolled onto her shoulder. She was exhausted, and she quickly started snoring. She was so out of it, but something woke her up. She lurched forward, eyes popping open to look for the source of whatever had awoken her. They flitted around the lab, finally settling on Pietro.

He let out a small groan and shifted a bit. She couldn’t believe it. He was awake! She jumped out of her chair and clutched his hand even tighter.

“Pietro? Pietro, wake up,” she said quietly. She didn’t want to jolt him back to life, just gradually wake him up. His eyelids started to flutter and he let out another groan. Finally, his head flopped to the left and he cracked his eyes open to look at her.

“Quinn? What is… going on?” His voice was a bit scratchy, but it was his voice. The fact that he was speaking to her after this hellish week was nothing short of a miracle. She basically launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his cold shoulders. Quinn didn’t even notice that there were tears streaming down her face as she responded.

“You got hurt. Shot. It was bad. You were asleep for so long, I didn’t think you would ever wake up.” She didn’t seem to ever want to let go as she clung to her now-awake boyfriend.

“That… hurts a bit, Quinn,” he winced. She quickly released him, not wanting to hurt him any further, and hastily wiped her cheeks.

“I’m sorry. I just missed you so much, Piet.” She was looking at him with intense joy and love in her eyes as he was glancing wearily up at her. He mustered his energy and smiled as best he could, making an effort for the woman he loved.

“I missed you as well, dragă*. You know that I will never leave you.” He reached a hand up to stroke her cheek and she reached up to hold it. He cradled her face in his palm and wiped away stray tears with his thumb.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Quinn murmured. She leaned down and pressed a long, sweet kiss to his lips. He reciprocated, but they were eventually interrupted by Beth walking in, startled that Pietro was awake and responsive.

The next week or so was absolute torture. Pietro couldn’t leave his bed until he was fully rested up, so Quinn had to continue making the trek to the infirmary to visit him. She was still nearly constantly by his side, having missed him intensely. When he was allowed to leave, he was giving strict orders that he shouldn’t over-exert himself. This meant: no missions, no training, and no sex. He had pouted over the last one for a very long time while Quinn just rolled her eyes. She was just glad he was back, sex or no sex.

Wanda was ecstatic that her brother was okay, having come to visit him many times in the infirmary. She was disappointed that she hadn’t been there when he had woken up, but was glad for it all the same. Neither woman left his side for a few days as he readjusted to life in the tower.

Finally, after another week or so, he was basically back to normal. He still wasn’t going on any missions anytime soon, but his fast metabolism had healed him to a point where he could do everything normally again. The first thing he did when he was told that he could resume training and other strenuous activities was carry Quinn off to their shared bedroom. They didn’t leave it for a full three days except to grab food at random intervals. The atmosphere around the tower was becoming positive again, and things were almost normal again. Until the day Pietro started acting oddly, that is.

It started off small. He went out for a walk one day and didn’t return for a few hours. Usually, his walks lasted about five minutes, so Quinn didn’t really know what was up but just ended up shrugging it off. He started behaving nervously around her. When he would leave, he would try to skirt around her and dodge her questions. She was a little hurt by this; he had just gotten done healing and now he was suddenly avoiding her? Soon, she only saw him at night, and even then he would roll over and go to sleep as soon as he hit the bed. Quinn was becoming more and more confused. There was no reason for this change, unless… had he gotten bored with her?

“Wanda, I don’t know what to do.” Quinn was spread out on her best friend’s mattress as the brunette sat at the head, legs crossed. Pietro’s weird behavior had been going on for about two weeks now, and she was getting tired of it.

“I do not know what to tell you, he has been blocking me out recently.” Wanda sighed and played with a particularly curly strand of Quinn’s hair.

“You don’t think he’s… cheating on me, do you?” Quinn frowned and glanced backward at her friend. Wanda looked absolutely horrified at the thought.

“No! He would never cheat on you, Quinn! He loves you so much, this I have seen in his heart,” she declared.

“I know, he would never... But then why is he acting like this? Ugh, boys suck!” Quinn plucked the pillow from behind her head and angrily threw it at the wall. Wanda lifted it with her powers and gently set it on the edge of the bed.

“Maybe you should just ask him. He may surprise you,” Wanda said as Quinn shut her eyes and let out a loud huff.

“You know what? You’re right. I’m just gonna go talk to him. What’s the worst that could happen?” Quinn sat up and got off the bed, waltzing to her bedroom. When she didn’t find Pietro in there, she checked the living room and then the kitchen.

“There you are!” Pietro was turned away from her and standing at the counter, and he jumped a bit as Quinn exclaimed this. He quickly turned and hid something behind his back.

“Quinn! Hello, I did not see you there,” he said, grinning a bit nervously.

“Right… I, um… Can we talk?” Quinn swallowed a bit nervously, eyeing the anxious look in Pietro’s eyes. They widened a bit as she said this.

“Well, actually… can we talk tonight? I would like to take you out somewhere nice.” This completely threw Quinn off, and she stood there blinking at Pietro for a moment before responding.

“Sure! Yeah, when did you wanna go?”

“Does six work for you?” The smile was gone from his face and was replaced with a look of something that appeared to be concern.

“I, uh, yeah. Yeah, that’s fine!” she exclaimed a bit too enthusiastically as she tried to decipher the look on her lover’s face. He nodded and sped over to peck her on the cheek before zooming out of the room. He was being super weird. And what exactly was he hiding from her? 

Doubts and concerns swam through her head as six o’clock approached. She threw on a plain black sheath dress and her favorite black heels, accessorizing with the necklace Pietro had gotten her for Christmas. She tamed her hair a bit, but let it lay mostly naturally on her head. She was dusting on a bit of makeup when she heard a knock on the door. 

When she opened it up, her breath caught in her throat a bit. Pietro was standing in front of her looking as handsome as ever. She figured he must have gotten changed in his old room. His hair was neat and groomed and he was wearing gray dress pants and a light blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up halfway. He seemed just as entranced by her as she was by him. They just stood there looking at each other until Quinn shook herself out of it.

“So… shall we go?” Pietro blinked at her words and shook his head a bit.

“Yes, I am sorry. You just look beautiful tonight, dragostea mea*.” He seemed to swallow a lump in his throat and held out his arm for her. She smiled faintly and took it, allowing him to lead her out of the tower and into a car waiting down below. There was very little talking on the way to their destination, and Quinn was starting to get nervous again. She figured he must just be taking her out to break up with her. This night is just a waste of time and energy, she thought as she leaned her head against the car window. She didn’t notice his anxious glances over at her as he drove them to a decently fancy restaurant. 

They got out of the car, Pietro speeding over to open Quinn’s door for her, and waited to be seated. Neither of them was really sure what the other was thinking as they sat and waited to order their food.

“So,” Quinn started, “What’s this all about?” 

“What, I cannot take my girlfriend out somewhere nice?” Pietro asked her. He was starting to sweat a bit.

“Well, that’s certainly within your rights. But are there any… ulterior motives behind this?” She decided to just get to the heart of the matter. If he was going to dump her, it might as well be before they ordered to spare the bill if nothing else.

“How did you… Did my sister tell you?” Pietro looked a bit crushed as he stared intently at Quinn. So, her suspicions were correct. She felt a lump forming in her throat and found that she couldn’t look Pietro in the eye anymore.

“She didn’t have to tell me. You’ve been acting weird for a while. I kind of… guessed.” She would not cry. Not in a restaurant surrounded by people.

“Damn, I was really hoping to surprise you,” Pietro groaned. Quinn felt like someone had just punched her in the gut and her eyes rose to glare at him.

“You wanted to surprise me? I think breaking up with me is enough of a surprise, but okay. You know, we had a good ride Pietro, but this is a really twisted way of dumping a girl, don’t you think?” Her words just spewed out like vomit. Pietro looked stunned at the pissed off girl seated across from him. Suddenly, a chuckle escaped his throat and after a few seconds he was laughing hysterically.

“What the fuck is so fucking funny?” Quinn growled. Their waitress finally appeared but Quinn shooed her away.

“You think I’m breaking up with you?” he laughed. Quinn’s scowl deepened and she clenched her fists. She noticed that she had bent all the silverware on the table without even realizing it.

“I still don’t get how that’s so damn funny.” Pietro quickly sobered up and reached into his pocket. He set something on the table that completely shocked Quinn.

“I was going to propose. After dessert. After I got better, I realized that we may not have much time together. I want to make this time meaningful, and I want us to be as close as we possibly can be.” He slid the small velvet box across the table towards her. Her hands were shaking as lifted the lid to reveal a gorgeous diamond ring. It was simple, with just a silver band and one single stone, but she absolutely loved it. She lifted her eyes to meet Pietro’s, which were filled with such passion and love. She wondered how she could’ve been so stupid and blind.

“And you are right, I have been acting strangely,” Pietro said, reaching across the table and taking her hands in his own. “I thought you would maybe say no. Voices inside my head say that I am no good for you. You deserve better than me, and I know this. I know I am not serious most of the time and I can be a bit of a handful, but I love you. Te iubesc*, Quinn. You are everything to me.”

“Don’t ever think you’re not good enough for me. You’re absolutely perfect for me. And I would marry you in a heartbeat.” Quinn started crying as she reached up to stroke Pietro’s cheek. He beamed and leaned across the table to chastely kiss his new fiance. They pulled apart a bit breathlessly and grinned at each other.

“Are you two ready to order?” The voice of their waitress shook them out of their reverie, and they quickly placed their order. They were back to their normal selves as the rest of the dinner progressed, and they left the restaurant happy, full of food and love. When they reached the car, Pietro got down on one knee before unlocking the doors.

“I want to be official about this,” he said, smirking. Quinn rolled her eyes, but complied. She took off her ring and handed it to him. He held the ring in one hand and her hand in the other.

“Quinn Rosen, I have loved you for as long as I have known you. You are beautiful, smart, compassionate, and extremely sexy. You put up with me, which is a difficult feat in itself. I love you with my whole heart. Will you marry me?”

“You know, Pietro,” she began, watching him grow distressed, “I think we’ve made a lot of mistakes since we got together. We’re not perfect. Remember Christmas? That was a pretty shitty time. Anyways, what I’m getting at is that we’re both still kids. We’re only in our twenties, and we have our whole lives ahead of us to make mistakes. This isn’t going to be one of them, though. Of course I’ll marry you.”

She saw the relief flash across his face as he slid the ring onto her finger. He stood and pulled her into a hug. The hug turned into a passionate kiss and soon Quinn was pinned against the car door.

“I wanna fuck you so badly, Pietro,” Quinn moaned against his mouth.

“Such a dirty mouth.” She could feel him grinning as he kissed her intensely. Their love was a little reckless and weird. There were a lot of things they needed to do better, like communicate and tell each other when something was wrong. All of these things aside, though, they were absolutely meant to be together. Neither of them could imagine life without the other, and they knew that they would never part ways for as long as they both lived.

*dragă - dear  
*dragostea mea - my love  
*Te iubesc - I love you


End file.
